


Butterflies and Loose Wings

by Del_Rion



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Fisting, Anal Plug, Barebacking, Blow Jobs, Double Penetration in Two Holes, Hand Jobs, M/M, Polyamory, Polyamory Big Bang, Polyamory Negotiations, Spitroasting, Threesome - M/M/M, broken butterfly effect, eventual polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-11-15
Packaged: 2018-01-01 16:29:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1046030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Del_Rion/pseuds/Del_Rion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magic and a shattered butterfly effect leave Bruce, Steve and Tony struggling to piece their lives back together. Two simple choices create two similar, parallel paths – alternatives that are fused back together to resume a single continuity. The trio is faced with a painful choice: hold onto their partner with whom they have forged a relationship over the last month, or let go in favor of their friend and teammate.</p>
<p><b>Written for:</b> <i>Polyamory Big Bang</i>’s round 5.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterflies and Loose Wings

**Author's Note:**

> ****
> 
> Story Info
> 
> **Title:** Butterflies and Loose Wings
> 
>  **Author:** Del Rion (delrion.mail (at) gmail.com)
> 
> **Fandom:** The Avengers (MCU)
> 
> **Genre:** Drama
> 
> **Rating:** MA / FRAO
> 
> **Characters:** Bruce Banner (Hulk), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), J.A.R.V.I.S., Steve Rogers (Captain America), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Thor
> 
> **Pairings:** Bruce/Tony, Steve/Tony, Bruce/Steve/Tony
> 
> **Warnings:** Sexual content (m/m, m/m/m (polyamorous relationship), barebacking, blowjobs, double penetration (spit-roasting), anal fingering, fisting, hand-job, plug), language, brief canonical violence.
> 
> **Disclaimer:** Iron Man, Avengers and Marvel Cinematic Universe, including characters and everything else, belong to Marvel, Marvel Studios, Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon, Shane Black, Kenneth Branagh, Joe Johnston, Louis Leterrier, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Universal Pictures. In short: I own nothing; this is pure fiction created to entertain likeminded fans for no profit whatsoever.
> 
> **Beta:** Mythra
> 
> **Feedback:** Very welcome
> 
>  
> 
> **About _Butterflies and Loose Wings_ :** There is not enough Stark Spangled Banner in the world.
> 
> Also, this might be one of the weirdest get-together threesome ideas ever (although I’m certain it’s been done already in the past; if not, let this be the first).
> 
> The idea behind the title is loosely based on the whole concept of a ‘butterfly effect’; one flap of a butterfly’s wings across the world is capable of creating a much greater chain of events somewhere else.
> 
>  
> 
> **Story and status:** Below you see the writing process of the story. If there is no text after the title, then it is finished and checked. Possible updates shall be marked after the title.
> 
> **Butterflies and Loose Wings**
> 
> * * *
> 
> Written for **Polyamory Big Bang** ’s round 5.

****

## Butterflies and Loose Wings

 

There was a kid with a magical wand; an actual, honest-to-God _magical wand_. 

Tony would have opted not to believe it, but Thor had been adamant that the thing held power, the suit’s scanners were going nuts and seeing the skies turning into something that resembled a 1960s LSD trip… Tony supposed he had to swallow it for now and take it on faith that they were dealing with magic. 

No wonder he was already getting a headache. 

Of course the headache may have been connected to the possibility of a concussion he was dealing with, in the aftermath of being tossed around, down, against and into things several times during the last few hours. The armor had taken the brunt of the abuse but it still hurt. 

Currently, the Voldemort wannabe was busy creating a magical storm around himself on top of a high-rise where he had set up shop. Clint and Natasha were long since out of the game, unable to withstand the fucked up elements battling against them, and Thor… 

“Where the hell is Thor?” Tony shouted into the comm. 

_“We don’t have time to wait for him,”_ Steve replied, voice tight. He wasn’t doing so good either, but Captain America was the leader of the Avengers and from how he had been tossed around, much like Tony, throughout the fight, Tony knew the man was looking for that one chance to hit the kid in the head with his shield. 

The Hulk was currently working on creating an opening for Cap, roaring, grunting and slamming against the protective shield that kept them from getting to the kid. All around them pieces of the roof and nearby buildings were being scraped off and tossed into the air, and it had to look like a gigantic floating column of rubble above Harlem. Tony hated to think of the moment when all that mass would come crashing down, but he trusted that Clint and Natasha had managed to evacuate the area. 

“Come on, big guy,” Tony cheered the Hulk on. “You can do it! What’s some magic barrier going to do to you?” 

The Hulk didn’t hear him – they were yet to devise a communication apparatus that would withstand the transformation and the destruction the green rage-monster often wrought and withstood – but it seemed his teammate agreed with Tony’s thinking because the Hulk pushed even harder, roaring and pummeling one giant fist against the rippling barrier. 

_“Get ready,”_ Steve ordered, inching closer. 

A television antenna tore off the building next to them, jerked around like a leaf in the wind and came crashing towards Cap. Tony aimed his right hand and fired, blasting the antenna into pieces with a repulsor blast, and Steve gave him a brief look of thanks. 

The Hulk pushed harder, feet sinking into the already torn rooftop, seeking purchase. His neck and shoulders were tight with tension, huge leg muscles strained in the effort to push against the barrier. Something had to give, soon, and Tony was yet to see the Hulk go down. 

With a roar of pure determination, the usual rage taking a backseat, the Hulk hauled off and punched at the barrier, which shattered in a spectacular rain of rainbow-colored lights. Only seconds after that the barrier burst in all directions – inwards as well as out; Tony blinked and almost missed seeing the kid being shoved off his feet, flying across the rooftop. 

_“Sir,”_ J.A.R.V.I.S. tried to warn him before the shockwave from the exploding barrier hit them: it was as if it grew in momentum the further it spread, simply forcing the Hulk off his feet, but Cap and Tony, who were a little further off, were swept away like small rocks, sent flying backwards – along with the rooftops of all the nearby buildings. 

The armor’s repulsors tried to compensate against the sudden magical current. It didn’t help that Tony got half a sundeck in the face as he tried to regain control of his armored body. He knew that the worst that could happen if he fell at this height were a couple more significant bruises. The others, however… 

_Steve!_

Tony forced his body to still and stop rotating, even if he got another chunk of a roof in the head for that. The scanners searched for his missing leader, spotted him falling as gravity finally began to take over, and Tony rocketed down after him, shoving objects out of his way until he saw a flash of blue and grabbed at the first limb that he could reach, pulling back up before they both went splat into the sidewalk. 

Steve grunted at the sudden jerk but didn’t complain. 

While debris was raining down all around them, Tony took a second to reach down and grasp Steve’s arm, instead of dangling him upside-down by his ankle. It was clear Steve had taken a couple hits from the flying objects as well, his grasp a little shaky, but he grinned at Tony’s faceplate once he was upright, one arm around his shoulders, feet balancing atop Tony’s armored boots. 

‘Any sign of the Hulk?’ Tony saw Steve say – either Steve or Tony’s comm must have taken a hit. 

Tony shook his head then flew back up to the rooftop they had been standing on; they found their green teammate groaning and getting to his feet as they landed. Seeing as the magical storm was over, Tony popped open the faceplate and grinned at the Hulk. “Nice going, big guy! Tonight’s round is on me.” 

The Hulk merely grunted, then glanced towards their fallen enemy. The wand lay shattered near the unconscious kid’s hand, sparkling still, and Tony was loathe to touch it in case all this started again from the beginning. Where the hell was Thor? They didn’t deal with magical villains every day, so it seemed ironic that the Asgardian took off when he was most needed. 

Steve straightened beside him, preparing to step away from the awkward embrace, and Tony let him, retracting his arm from around the Captain’s waist. Almost at once Steve began to fall over, and Tony reached out to stabilize him, just as the Hulk reached out a hand – or rather, two massive fingers – to catch their leader before he fell. 

“You okay, Cap?” Tony asked. 

“I think I need a minute,” Steve admitted. There was blood on his face but he didn’t look like he was dying. 

“Take two,” Tony offered and helped him sit down. Steve carefully slid his precious shield from his arm and set it down beside him, then looked around slowly. It was a disaster zone around them, and they could hear police and fire department sirens in the distance. Other than that, it was eerily quiet. No screams, shouts, or cries for help… 

“Must have evacuated,” the Hulk grunted. 

“I sure hope so,” Tony agreed, cringing to think of anyone being caught under the fall of debris. 

The flap of a heavy, red cape heralded the arrival of Thor, who landed on the destroyed rooftop, looking as clean and godly as ever. 

Without warning, the Hulk punched the Asgardian right in the face, sending him stumbling back. “Where the fuck were you?” the monster demanded. 

Tony tried to hide his grin as Thor wiped blood from his nose and blinked at the Hulk, knowing better than to test his post-battle ire. 

“Mission accomplished,” Steve sighed from his seated position. 

“Verily,” Thor murmured and cast a look at their defeated villain. “I was seeking aid elsewhere, to gain victory in our battle, but it would seem that yet again the Hulk’s might triumphed.” 

The Hulk gave an appreciative huff at the carefully phrased compliment. 

Tony simply patted the giant green arm. “Thor, would you mind handling our unconscious friend and his sparkler of wonders? I think the rest of us deserve to go home, grab a hot shower and hit the hay.” Now that the magical light-show was over, the sky was rapidly darkening. The new moon was barely visible. 

Thor nodded and shifted Mjolnir in his grip, then strode over to their defeated villain, inspected his wand and proceeded to pick both up and fly them over to the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. containment facility. At least that’s where Tony hoped Thor was taking the two, but frankly, he was too tired to make sure. 

“Ready to go?” Tony asked his remaining companions. 

The Hulk nodded, braced himself and then took a giant leap that took him across several blocks, continuing like that towards the Avengers Tower. 

Tony looked down and offered Steve one armored hand. The blond took it, hoisting himself up, then picked up his shield, slid it on his arm and stepped into Tony’s personal space, bracing himself for the flight. 

Sliding an arm around him, Tony took off, snapping the faceplate shut for the duration of the flight. Steve, when Tony next looked at him, was simply hanging on, face pressed against the curve of Tony’s armored neck, perhaps to shelter himself from the wind or hoping they would just be at the Tower already, that much closer to their own showers and bedrooms. 

* * *

As soon as Iron Man’s boots hit the landing pad, J.A.R.V.I.S.’s voice appeared in Tony’s earpiece: _“The Hulk has safely reached the premises, sir. Dr. Banner is currently getting his bearings in the Zen garden.”_ Constructing an indoors Japanese rock garden had mostly been a joke on Tony’s part – one that Bruce played to full extent by regularly using the place to meditate and try to relax after a mission where his big, green alter-ego was needed. 

Tony loosened his hold on Steve’s body and waited for the other man to find his feet and balance after the quick flight. 

_“There is residual energy floating over the city,”_ J.A.R.V.I.S. went on in Tony’s ear. 

“Anything dangerous?” he asked, not at all in the mood to go back out there to sort it out, but he would if he had to. 

_“I am unable to analyze it at this current time, sir,”_ his AI told him. _“However, the readings are minimal at best and do not seem to pose any danger – seeing as you, Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner are all covered in it.”_

Tony cringed. He supposed it had to do with the shattering of the magical field and the explosion that followed. “Analyze it, run the regular tests. Send copies to S.H.I.E.L.D. – Fury will ride my ass if I don’t let him into the loop.” 

_“Very well, sir.”_

“If there’s something alarming, tell me. Otherwise, I’m going to catch some Zs.” He looked at Steve again, who was pulling his cowl back with a somewhat shaky hand. If there had been wounds on his face, they were all closed by now, leaving only bloody smears to remind of their existence. “You okay, Cap?” Tony asked, snapping open the faceplate. 

Steve looked at him and nodded. He looked exhausted, beaten up and ready to crash. “Yeah. Just battered and bruised – nothing that will be there in the morning,” he added with a small grin he had started using only recently around Tony. Since their first meeting, it had been a rocky road to get this far, but they were a team and Tony, albeit grudgingly at times, was glad about that. More than glad. “How’s the Hulk?” 

“Landed. Bruce is in the garden.” 

Steve nodded. “Go check on him,” he said. It wasn’t an order, really, but they all knew that a post-Hulk-out Bruce was easily triggered, and Tony, strangely enough, kept any lingering, hostile thoughts from surfacing. For all of his abrasive behavior, he actually made Bruce relax and feel safe enough to curl up and sleep off the transformation’s effects. 

“Yeah,” Tony nodded and then ordered the armor to disassemble. He would have to work on it later, but for now he wanted to get out of it, check on his teammate, take a shower and go to bed. 

Steve slowly picked a path across the room while the armor opened up and Tony stepped out. His gait was slower and stiffer than usual, but he would be fine by morning; Tony had seen that happen before. 

After wiping his face – sweat and half-dried blood made for an unattractive mix – Tony went to the zen garden. Sure enough, Bruce was still there, sitting Indian style in the sand with a somewhat dazed expression on his face. He was naked, too, which was nothing new and Tony didn’t comment on it. 

“The other guy did good today,” Tony noted. “I’m fairly sure he saved Harlem, too.” 

“You sure about that?” Bruce asked, looking up at him. “J.A.R.V.I.S. showed me images…” 

“Collateral damage. Trust me, it would have been a lot worse without him – just like the first time you visited the place, to be honest,” Tony noted. Bruce opened his mouth to protest, but Tony cut him off with a quick shake of his head. “I know what happened with the Abomination. I’m smart enough to know how things would have turned out without the big guy stepping up and fighting.” 

“There wouldn’t be an Abomination without the Hulk,” Bruce murmured, lowering his face. He looked at his hands which were in his lap, palms up. There wasn’t any blood there, not this time – just the grime of the battle. 

“There wouldn’t be a lot of things without something else,” Tony deadpanned and crouched down in the sand beside the other man. “Go to bed. Get some rest. It will all be better in the morning.” 

“Will it?” Bruce asked him, raising an eyebrow. 

“That’s what they say,” Tony hedged, because he knew from personal experience that didn’t always happen. Not even most times. 

Bruce nodded slowly and picked himself up. He looked small and frail, compared to the raw power of the Hulk, but Tony didn’t hesitate seizing his shoulder and guiding him to the door of the garden, then to the elevator that would take Bruce to his own floor. 

The elevator doors opened promptly and Tony prepared to let go of Bruce so he could step into the lift, but the other man’s hand rose to his wrist before he could, holding his hand in place. Their eyes met, Bruce’s dark and deeply troubled, exhausted yet restless like a wary animal tired of running. 

Tony offered him a small smile. 

Bruce’s thumb caressed the sensitive area in the crook of his hand, between his forefinger and thumb. Tony didn’t mistake it for anything that it wasn’t – not when Bruce turned to face him and moved both his hands to touch Tony’s face, pulling him into the elevator and into a kiss. The doors closed behind Tony’s back and the elevator car began its descent. Bruce’s lips were desperate, his fingers pressing into Tony’s scalp, and Tony could tell he was in a hurry for some reason. 

Like this was going to be snatched away from him, or that reality would catch up if Bruce took his time. 

Tony pulled away from the kiss, instantly feeling Bruce’s fingers digging in harder, and it was easy to imagine them crushing his skull if the Hulk came too close to the surface. “Hey,” Tony breathed, to break the silence and give Bruce something to focus on. “There’s no reason to rush.” 

“You have no idea,” Bruce said – panted – face a little flushed, chest rising and falling, and Tony’s eyes involuntarily continued further down, finding Bruce’s cock dark and heavy between his legs, stiff in anticipation. 

“You know you can’t outrun the beast,” Tony teased, lifting his eyes back to Bruce’s face, and instantly the reality hit Bruce. It was something he usually said, not Tony; Tony was all for running, for taking the chance, however unlikely. 

“I’m sorry,” Bruce started. 

“No, you’re not,” Tony corrected, knowingly, and reached out blindly for the buttons of the elevator. “J.A.R.V.I.S. My floor, please.” 

_“Of course, sir,”_ the AI responded and the lift halted, then resumed in the opposite direction. 

“Tony…” 

“Bruce,” Tony cut him off. “No backsies. You kissed me first, remember?” 

“That doesn’t mean –” 

“What does it mean, then?” Tony demanded. “That you get to kiss me, but that’s it? What if I hadn’t pulled back? Would you have mauled me right here in the elevator?” 

Bruce looked deeply embarrassed, which wasn’t really working for Tony, but they arrived on his floor at that very second and Tony pulled Bruce along and out of the elevator, no matter the soundless protestations. “I can’t do this, Tony,” Bruce finally spluttered, finding his voice again. “It’s not safe. Not so soon after, and…” 

“I think the big guy got a pretty good workout tonight,” Tony argued. “He’s not going to make an appearance unless he really has to. Now, do you want to get cleaned up first? Do I need to get cleaned up first?” he added as an afterthought. 

Bruce looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time. Tony was clad from neck to toe in his dark undersuit, which hugged every curve of his body. It hadn’t been created for sex appeal, but clearly it worked for Bruce, who licked his lips. He opened his mouth to speak. 

“If the next words out of your mouth are either ‘can’t’, ‘won’t’ or ‘shouldn’t’, I’ll personally toss you out the window,” Tony warned him quickly. 

“Stripping would be a good start,” Bruce said, a small smile playing on his lips. “Do you have condoms?” 

Tony tried not to roll his eyes. “Yes. And lube. And –” 

It was Bruce’s turn to cut him off: “We’re not going the whole nine yards here. Not tonight. I’m still too worked up.” 

“Then why the condom?” 

“You know my blood is poisonous. I’m not taking any chances.” 

Tony was okay with playing it safe. He reached for the hidden zipper at the neck of the undersuit and tugged it down, unceremoniously; no reason to put on a show when all Bruce needed was probably the basic things. The earlier desperation was back in the other man’s eyes, like he was looking at something he couldn’t have. “Hey, Banner,” Tony said in a whisper, like he was telling him a secret. “This ain’t going anywhere…” 

Bruce met his eyes, briefly, then looked a bit lower as Tony started tugging off the skin-tight clothing. Even though he soon got his arms free and continued pushing the undersuit down, Bruce’s eyes remained higher than the progress of his undressing. If Tony didn’t know better, he might have thought Bruce was being chaste, but he knew what the man was looking at. 

“Shower?” he suggested once he had kicked himself free of the undersuit. 

Bruce nodded slowly. “Grab the condom?” he offered. 

Tony had no complaints to form, so he went to one of the bedside drawers, took a couple from the box and followed Bruce into the bathroom. The lights were turned on low when he entered: enough to see around, but not too bright to break the mood. Bruce had also started the water, standing beneath it, and Tony could see lines of dirt in the water, disappearing down the drain. He stepped closer, setting the condoms down on a shelf and approached the other man, careful not to startle him. Bruce must have heard him come in, though, because he tilted his head away from the water, opened his eyes and looked at Tony again. 

At his chest, to be exact. 

“I keep… looking for it,” Bruce admitted, raising his right hand a little and then stopping before it could actually touch Tony’s skin. 

“You’re not the only one,” Tony admitted, then caught Bruce’s hand with his own and guided it to the smooth expanse of his chest where the arc reactor had sat, not too long ago. There were no scars left; not a single sign of the horror Tony had endured. Sometimes he still woke up at night, frantic when he couldn’t find the familiar light. 

Bruce gave him a small smile and then tugged his hand down from Tony’s grip. Tony planned on moving after him, but Bruce’s fingers kept tracing his skin, lower and lower, and he had to take a step closer to reach down far enough to grasp Tony’s cock. His fingers were strong, not as careful as Tony had expected, and the squeeze he received a moment later made a shudder run down his spine and his skin tingle. 

“Fuck,” Tony murmured. 

Bruce’s fingers relaxed a little, delving lower, giving his balls a firm tug. Water was starting to get everywhere, running down their bodies in uneven rivers. “Would you like that?” Bruce asked, voice low. One of his fingers pushed further, across sensitive skin to his asshole. He didn’t press in, but Tony had a feeling he would, if given permission. He was starting to get a whole new look at Bruce’s years of ‘self-searching’. 

“Well, it depends,” Tony said, remembering that he had been asked a question. “Can you? Things can get a little overwhelming…” 

Bruce met his eyes again. His face was clean now, free of the signs of battle if you didn’t count the overall weariness. Whatever they got up to, it wasn’t going to take very long. “I can tell you, with certainty, that I won’t bottom,” Bruce told him after a bit. “It’s too…” 

“Invasive?” 

“I wouldn’t have used that word, but yes,” Bruce admitted. “I wouldn’t mind the opposite, but… I’m not sure it’s a good idea.” 

“We’ve got condoms,” Tony reminded him. 

“I might get a little too excited.” 

“That’s generally the point.” 

“Oh, Tony…” Bruce gave him a small, almost sinister smile. “There’s so much more than excitement when it comes to sex. Intimacy and closeness I can do. Trust… I would like that.” 

“I trust you, and you trust me, so we’re good on that front,” Tony nodded eagerly, then caught his breath as Bruce angled his hand and poked one finger at his entrance. The few rivers of water that were making their way down Tony’s backside eased the way, taking away most of the friction, but still allowing him to feel every small shift against his skin. He widened his stance, to make it easier. 

“I’m not sure you really trust anyone,” Bruce argued, which was a weird statement considering that he was currently burying a finger to the hilt inside Tony’s ass. 

“That’s… not entirely true,” Tony defended as he placed one arm on Bruce’s shoulder to steady himself. 

“No?” Bruce breathed out teasingly and leaned closer, kissing Tony’s neck. Thinking that the water could minimize most threats, Tony slid his hand over and carefully fisted Bruce’s cock, starting to jerk it with a slow, steady pace. He heard a faint grunt, right beside his ear, and Bruce’s hands shifted; the one between his legs remained, but the other moved around, curling around Tony’s hip and joining its friend by squeezing Tony’s right ass cheek, pulling it aside a little. At the same time, Bruce started working another finger in beside the first. “I’m thinking…” Bruce started. 

“Think faster,” Tony ordered, and Bruce’s hand gripped his ass a bit harder. He hadn’t known he had bruises there from the battle, but it hurt a bit, making him groan and jerk Bruce a bit harder. 

“You’re liking this,” Bruce observed. 

“Find my prostate and I’ll be loving it,” Tony countered, leaning his head against Bruce’s shoulder and biting the flesh teasingly, with barely enough pressure to leave any marks at all. 

Bruce chuckled appropriately. “How much can you take?” 

“As much as you can give,” Tony replied instantly, then drew his head back a little, in an attempt to catch Bruce’s eyes. “But we’re not talking about the Hulk, right? I’ve seen the big guy naked –” 

Bruce’s eyes didn’t glitter green, but it was a near thing. “No, and if you try to bring him out to play here, we’re done. For good.” 

“Got it,” Tony nodded. “Just checking, because you made it sound like – Oh fuck!” he yelped as Bruce rotated his fist, a little, and stuck a third finger in him. Tony was really starting to feel the stretch. “I would suggest actual lube if you’re trying to cram any more in there,” he informed his partner. 

“But you’re okay with more?” Bruce asked, and he was definitely going for something there. 

“Just take it easy, it’s been a while. Plus, maybe not tonight; I’m feeling bruised as it is.” Not for long, of course, because Extremis would take care of that. He just hadn’t had time to settle down and… 

Bruce’s hips bucked towards his hand and Tony resumed moving his fingers around the flesh that had flushed a much darker shade. It was obvious Bruce was starting to chase his climax and Tony tried helping him along without crossing any invisible lines that could be considered as ‘too much’. 

“That’s… good,” Bruce agreed and shifted his own fingers; he slipped them all out, then pushed back in with two, because it was easier considering the cramped angle and lack of real lube. “I’ve been working on this theory about you…” 

“Yeah?” Curiosity killed the cat, but Tony had always lived hard and fast. 

“You’re such a pliant person; you absorb and give and compromise. How people don’t see that… You want to do well, and you want people to notice. You brag about the insignificant stuff, the things that don’t matter…” 

“I thought you weren’t that kind of doctor,” Tony had to crack at him. 

Bruce pulled at his ass cheek a little harder and pointedly found his prostate, as if he had known where it was all this time. Tony’s knees jerked a little. “We’re not that much alike, but like so many people whisper behind our backs, you’re the successful version of me, in so many ways.” 

“That’s a load of crap,” Tony informed him. 

“It’s not, and you know it,” Bruce breathed hotly in his ear. “I don’t mind it. I know I think about it, every time we work in a lab together. I like it. I also may have decided, a fairly long time ago, that I knew I was going to screw up our whole arrangement some day, by doing exactly what I’ve been doing for the last fifteen minutes.” 

“It’s not screwing up if it’s an improvement,” Tony countered. He circled the head of Bruce’s cock with his fingers, and maybe the other man was already on edge after the fight and transformation, because he came hard and fast, groaning against Tony’s shoulder until he was coherent again. 

“Wash your hand,” Bruce ordered once he had enough air in his lungs, and Tony pointedly stuck his hand under the spray of the shower – all the while rather conscious that Bruce’s hands were still present, in and on his ass, the fingers of his right hand resuming their movement from earlier now that Bruce’s brain was back online. 

“You know, we could do this the easy way,” Tony suggested. 

“Did it take all your genius to figure that out?” Bruce asked and pulled back his hands. 

Tony felt like swatting him, but shifted his hips from side to side instead, joints cracking a little. “How do you want me?” he asked instead, flashing Bruce a quick grin, covering up the momentary uncertainty now that the mood was somewhat broken. 

“Turn around,” Bruce told him and gently directed Tony to rest his upper body against the shower wall. “Do you want to jerk yourself off, or do you want me to?” 

“If I do it, what are you going to do?” Tony asked. 

Bruce replied by drawing Tony’s hips back, just slightly, and spreading his ass cheeks a bit before moving his right hand back where it had been before they moved. 

Tony dropped one hand to his own cock, not bothering with a verbal answer. He would have preferred a nice, soft bed, but as Bruce started carefully then picked up the pace and force behind the thrusts of his hand – and added that third finger back into the fray – Tony supposed the setting worked nicely, with hard shower tiles and somewhat uncertain footing. 

“Does it hurt?” Bruce asked after a bit, not slowing down. His free hand caressed up and down Tony’s lower back before moving back to open his ass a bit. 

“Nope,” Tony told him. “Just… Oh, right there,” he almost whined, toes curling as Bruce’s fingers bumped against his now-sensitive prostate. It wasn’t going to take much longer. His hand on his cock felt almost secondary, an extension of the pleasure from Bruce’s fingers – a tour guide directing his pleasure in the right direction. 

“One day, maybe…” Bruce leaned his forehead against Tony’s shoulder-blade, probably staring down at his relentlessly working hand. 

“Spit it out,” Tony groaned, so fucking close. 

“One day, I’ll talk you into letting me push my entire hand inside you,” Bruce whispered, and Tony’s entire body froze as he came, his last breath uncomfortably trapped in his chest before he managed to let it out. Bruce’s fingers stopped to press against his prostate, slowly rubbing back and forth over it. 

Tony blinked, moving both his hands onto the shower wall to steady himself. 

He felt Bruce’s lips curl against the skin of his shoulder. “Your skin is glowing, did you know that?” 

“Only when I come really hard,” Tony admitted. “It… just happens. It’s not dangerous. Mostly.” He had made sure his bedclothes were as non-flammable as possible, just in case. 

Bruce kissed his shoulder again. “Was that…?” 

“Awesome.” Tony slowly turned around, resting his back against the wall. Bruce looked almost awkward, standing there. “We’re doing it,” Tony told him. “Definitely. Never done that one before…” He dropped his eyes to Bruce’s hands, then forcibly moved them back to his face. “Is that your secret kink?” 

“With you, mostly,” Bruce confessed almost sheepishly. “You have a great ass,” he shrugged, as if that explained it. It didn’t, but Tony also didn’t care. He showed that by dragging Bruce into another long kiss, but both of them were tired now and Tony eventually moved to finish showering in order for them to get some rest. 

After they had toweled off, Bruce was hesitating again – as if he didn’t know where his place was. Tony solved the riddle for him by taking his towel, placing it on the towel drying rack in the bathroom and then beckoned Bruce to follow him into bed. “We’ve come this far,” Tony noted. “Might as well go the rest of the way. Unless you’re in this just for the sex, which is…” Tony tried not to sound disappointed. 

Bruce gave him an almost relieved smile, which didn’t help – not before he opened his mouth to talk: “I didn’t want to expect too much. We haven’t really… talked about any of this.” 

“Other than you shoving your fist in my ass, which is actually further than most of my relationship discussions have gone in the past,” Tony joked and settled down on the bed. Bruce followed him, less tense now, and chose the spot closest to the door. Tony lay down beside him, arranging the sheets for a bit, and Bruce’s hand slid up his flank and his side, briefly settling on his chest before sliding over his body. 

“There’s more to it than that,” Bruce finally said. 

“I’m sure,” Tony smiled at him. “We’ll figure it out.” He reached out to touch Bruce’s still-damp hair, and watched as the other man slowly relaxed and drifted off. 

Tony wanted to follow him, but he felt uneasy suddenly, and he kept hearing… If he didn’t know better, he would have thought there was trouble with the plumbing or air conditioning. Also, there was a ghost sensation of something brushing against his skin, but as he turned to look, there was nothing on the empty side of the bed; even with the two of them, there was still room left on Tony’s large bed. 

He looked at the empty spot and for a moment thought he heard something like distant whispers. Just as well, it was probably the rush of blood in his brain. In the deep shadows of the room, the shapes easily played tricks on his mind… 

Shaking his head, Tony settled back down – but not without getting a strange feeling that there was something missing. 

* * *

The flight had been quick and intense; when Iron Man’s boots hit the landing pad, Tony was still holding Steve’s body to his armored one, to signal to his leader he wasn’t going to drop him. 

J.A.R.V.I.S.’s voice filled his ears an instant later: _“The Hulk has safely reached the premises, sir. Dr. Banner is currently getting his bearings in the Zen garden.”_ Tony was happy to hear that, seeing as hunting a rogue Hulk across the city wasn’t something he would want to do after tonight’s battle. Besides, if Bruce was in the Japanese rock garden, it meant he was already well on his way to inner calm. 

Tony carefully loosened his hold on Steve’s body and waited for the other man to find his feet and balance. 

_“There is residual energy floating over the city,”_ J.A.R.V.I.S. went on in Tony’s earpiece. 

“Anything dangerous?” he asked, because whether he liked it or not, Tony would have to go back out there to sort it out, regardless of how worn out he was now. 

_“I am unable to analyze it at this current time, sir,”_ his AI told him. _“However, the readings are minimal at best and do not seem to pose any danger – seeing as you, Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner are all covered in it.”_

Tony cringed. An educated guess was that it was an after-effect from the shattering of the magical field and the explosion that followed. “Analyze it, run the regular tests. Send copies to S.H.I.E.L.D., ‘cause Fury will ride my ass if I don’t let him into the loop.” 

_“Very well, sir.”_

“If there’s something alarming, tell me. Otherwise, I’m going to catch some Zs.” Tony looked at Steve again, who was pulling his cowl back; his movements were somewhat shaky. Any wounds on his face had closed by now, leaving only smears of blood to remind of their existence. “You okay, Cap?” Tony asked, snapping open the faceplate. 

Steve glanced at him and nodded. He looked exhausted, beaten up and ready to crash. “Yeah. Just… battered and bruised – nothing that will be there in the morning,” he added with a small, devilish grin he had started using only recently around Tony. Their first meeting had been rocky, not to mention what came after, but they were a team. “How’s the Hulk?” Steve asked. 

“Landed. Bruce is in the garden.” 

Steve nodded. “Go check on him,” he suggested, knowing that a post-Hulk-out Bruce was still edgy beneath all the weariness of the transformation, and took more kindly to Tony than anyone else. 

“Yeah,” Tony agreed and ordered the armor to retract. He would have to fix the damage caused by the battle later, but right now he wanted to get out of it, check on his teammate, take a shower and go to bed. 

Steve slowly picked a path across the room while the armor opened up and Tony stepped out. The Captain’s gait was slower and stiffer than usual, but as Steve had said, he would be fine by morning; Tony had seen it happen before. 

After cleaning up a little, Tony went to the Zen garden. As expected, he found Bruce there, sitting in the sand with a disoriented look on his face. He was naked, too, which was nothing new and Tony was long past commenting on it. 

“The other guy did good today,” Tony noted. “I’m fairly sure he saved Harlem, too.” 

“You sure about that?” Bruce asked, looking up. “J.A.R.V.I.S. showed me images…” 

They half-heartedly argued about that for a minute – about the collateral damage and that one time when Bruce and the Hulk had visited Harlem before tonight – then Tony urged Bruce to go to bed. He waited for the other man to pick himself up from the sandy floor, then gently guided Bruce to the elevator with a firm hand on his shoulder. 

Once the elevator arrived, Bruce gave him a small nod and Tony let go of him. Bruce’s face was more relaxed now, although his eyes betrayed the lingering tension. 

“Okay?” Tony asked before the elevator doors could close. 

Bruce hesitated for a few seconds. Finally he nodded again. “Yeah. Good night, Tony.” 

“Night,” Tony replied and stepped back, watching the doors slide shut and the floor indicator showing that the elevator had stopped at Bruce’s floor. Confident that the other man would be okay, Tony turned towards the stairs and decided on a small snack before he headed to his room for the long-awaited shower and rest. 

If Clint, Natasha and Thor were back, they weren’t on the shared main floor. Steve, however, was in the kitchen, which made Tony halt in the doorway, watching the blond struggle to open a can of beans. His arms were shaking, from fingers to shoulders, and he was still in uniform. Clearly Steve had come here instead of going to his own floor, and Tony knew why: he was probably hungry after the fight, his serum enhanced metabolism screaming for sustenance. 

“Want some help with that?” Tony asked. 

Steve jumped. It was clear he had been very focused on getting the can open. “I was just about to open it with my shield,” he joked lamely. 

Tony nodded and walked over, taking the somewhat mangled can from his teammate. He observed it for a bit, then finally got a knife and forcibly opened the lid. Steve watched with hungry eyes, then took the can from him once Tony tore off the lid and dug in with a spoon. 

It would have been a perfect opportunity to make a dozen and one jokes, but Tony simply got himself a bottle of mineral water and then reached into the fridge for ingredients to make sandwiches. By the time he had finished making a few with rye bread, cheese, sliced chicken and avocado, Steve had polished off the cold beans and was eyeing up the sandwiches. “Knock yourself out,” Tony urged him and Steve grabbed two sandwiches at once, eating contentedly as Tony finished several more and then took one for himself, knowing Steve would have no trouble dealing with the rest. 

Once Steve had chewed down three thick sandwiches, he swallowed and stopped long enough to get himself a tall glass of milk. “Was Bruce okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” Tony nodded. “I sent him off to bed. Maybe I’ll tuck you in, too, before I get to hit the sack myself.” 

Steve looked a bit guilty. “Just go to bed. I’ll be fine.” 

“What if you need to open another can of something?” Tony teased. 

Steve shifted his foot and Tony heard the telltale sound of his vibranium shield shifting against the floor. “I think I’ll manage.” 

Tony laughed. In his defense, he was tired, easily amused, and perhaps suffering from a mild concussion. However, Steve seemed to perk up at the sound and smiled to himself, returning to browse the shelves. He couldn’t be all that hungry anymore, and he wasn’t shaking as badly, either, so he would probably be okay. Steve was a grown man who had been in the army and in a war; he could get himself into bed just fine. 

“We have strawberries,” Steve suddenly announced and pulled a plastic container from a cupboard. 

“Who stashed them there?” Tony frowned. 

Steve shrugged and popped one in his mouth. “They’re ripe. Better eat them now before they spoil.” 

“Good thinking,” Tony agreed and went to the fridge, not finding whipped cream – shocker, Thor loved that stuff – but there was some chocolate sauce. “How about it?” Tony offered, showing Steve the bottle. 

“No whipped cream?” Steve asked, almost disappointed. 

“Thor must have demolished the last batch we had,” Tony guessed, then snapped his fingers. “I have some in my room!” 

The smile he got in return was radiant, and without further debate they took their prize desserts and went up to Tony’s floor. Steve settled down in the sitting area while Tony went and fetched the whipped cream – the best stuff that was sold in a can, according to anyone who had tasted it. 

Steve had brought the chocolate sauce along anyway and tugged at the neck of his uniform, loosening one of the hidden zippers. It might be smarter to go shower before enjoying their dessert, which Tony suggested as he sat down on a couch opposite from Steve’s: “How about I toss these in a cooler and we both clean up before getting started on the dessert?” 

Surprisingly, Steve gave him a suspicious look. “You sure you won’t just eat them while I’m gone?” 

“Me?!” Tony tried to pretend he was shocked by Steve’s distrust. “I would never! Okay, maybe a few,” he teased and popped one strawberry into his mouth. Nice and ripe, just as Steve had said. By next morning they might already be going bad, so the smart thing to do was to eat them now. “I have a bathroom right there,” Tony finally offered, pointing toward the door on the side. 

Steve looked at it, considering his options, then peered at the strawberries as if trying to figure out how to protect them from Tony’s clever fingers. “You could use a shower, too,” he said finally. “That way both of us are cleared of any suspicion of eating the strawberries behind the other’s back.” 

He could use a shower, Tony knew that. The thing was, though, he wasn’t certain whether he could survive a shower with Captain America. “I, uh…” 

Steve’s expression changed in a heartbeat, from playful to hard and withdrawn. “I’m sorry, I didn’t meant it like that.” 

“You didn’t?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “I’m almost hurt.” 

“You are?” And once again the hopeful look was there, and Tony had no idea who was playing whom, or where the jokes ended and a glimpse at some long-hidden truth began. 

“I’m not sure showering together would be such a good idea,” Tony finally said. 

“You’ve never showered with another man before?” Steve cocked an eyebrow. 

“It… depends,” he started haltingly, then narrowed his eyes at Steve. “Are you playing me?” 

“I was trying to get you into the shower with me, but if you would rather not…” 

Tony was almost certain he was suffering from a head trauma of some kind, but if this was a hallucination or just some big misunderstanding, he was totally fine with that. “The showering part of things isn’t a problem,” Tony ventured. 

“So what is?” Steve was all for solving problems. For a master tactician, this weird dance was like a decoy meant to confuse, and Tony wasn’t sure how much he should buy into Steve’s words and half-promises. 

“I’m not sure we both want the same thing here,” Tony finally confessed, because he didn’t want to seem too eager, or assume too much. 

“Okay,” Steve nodded and scooted forward on his seat, closer to Tony. “So, let’s make this simpler. This is what I want,” he stated, and leaned forward the rest of the way and kissed Tony. Sure, Tony saw it coming – he was an expert in tactical approach when it came to sexual interaction. Still, he allowed himself to be surprised – okay, he really _was_ surprised. 

Steve drew back after a bit, blue eyes dark in the dim lights. “Now, what do you want?” he asked. 

Tony blinked at him. “You, out of that uniform. Stat.” 

Steve grinned at him again, stood up and started stripping his uniform off right there in front of Tony. And what did Tony do? He just gaped, pretty much. Sure, he had seen Steve less than fully clothed before, but never naked – never purposefully naked in Tony’s room. The pale skin was smooth beneath all the sweat and grime of the battle. Just like on his face, smears of blood were still visible, as well as some bruises and wounds that were still healing. It even looked like one of Steve’s ribs may have been cracked, but he moved like it didn’t bother him and Tony assumed that if the bone didn’t need to be set, the serum would deal with that like it dealt with everything else. 

‘Everything else’ seemed to include Steve’s cock. 

“Holy mother of Christ,” Tony swore, eyes glued to it. Steve wasn’t hung like a horse – Tony had seen bigger in real life – but even after hours of fighting and getting tossed around, Steve was hard and his cock stood up, straight against his stomach. A really bad pun would have been to say it was saluting, but Tony’s brain was probably bleeding and he swallowed, trying to move his eyes anywhere that wasn’t Steve’s crotch. 

The blond shifted a little, and even without looking at his face Tony could tell he was getting nervous. Tony felt like he was eyeing up the blond’s cock like Steve had eyed up the sandwiches earlier, but Tony was going to get him some of that, pronto. 

“Tony?” Steve asked, voice wavering a little. 

“Do you have any objections to me cramming your cock down my throat in the next few seconds?” Tony asked, still unable to look away from the faintly pulsing column of hard flesh. He had never been obsessive about cocks or any part of human anatomy in particular, but he would make an exception for Steve’s cock. And perhaps, once the two of them got better acquainted, Tony could broaden his obsession to the rest of Steve. For now… 

“No objections,” Steve managed, a bit less nervously, and Tony took that as a blessing from the heavens and leaned forward, grabbing the base of Steve’s cock with his right hand to tilt it away from his muscled abdomen and sealed his lips around the head. While he would have liked to just dive in and hold his breath forever, Steve was big enough to force Tony into a cautious approach. Steve tasted of sweat and smelled of the battleground. The pre-cum that soon bubbled from the tip had a different flavor, though. For lack of a better word, it was ‘clean’ – not something affected by a diet or natural flavor. 

Tony moved his head back and forth, taking Steve deeper and deeper, than aligned his head to take it past the comfort zone, letting his throat relax and get used to the sensation. 

Above him, Steve was breathing at a slow, deep pace. When Tony’s free hand slid across his thigh, he could tell Steve was tense, perhaps to keep from moving. Tony drew back, slowly, tongue dragging against Steve’s cock as he made his final ascent. “When I’ve taken you in all the way,” he murmured against Steve’s pelvic bone, “I want you to fuck my face.” 

“Is that what you want?” Steve asked, his voice carefully neutral. 

Tony peered up at him, cheek resting against Steve’s skin. His cock was a mere inch from his lips when they curled into a smile. “For starters. After that we can negotiate. How’s your refractory period?” 

“My what?” 

“Seriously?” Tony joked, then frowned and weighed the possibilities. Steve was from the forties. Sex Ed may have not been such a big thing then – not with the same accuracy as today, anyway. “How long before you can get hard again after you’ve shot your load?” he rephrased his question, but it still didn’t seem to make things easier for Steve. 

“Um… You mean, after the first time, or…?” Steve seemed genuinely uncertain of what Tony was trying to find out, and Tony leaned back a bit, to look at him better. 

“I guess we’ll see,” Tony decided, because he really didn’t want to make Steve uncomfortable at this point, and the blond nodded, looking relieved. “Should we get back to this?” he added, sliding his right hand back around Steve’s cock. 

“Please,” Steve gave him a tiny smile. “Although… I’m not sure if what you said earlier is a good idea. I don’t want to break your jaw or anything.” 

Tony laughed – then didn’t, because most people got a little lost when they orgasmed, and he didn’t really want to try that with a man with super strength. “Agreed. But,” he added, leaning closer and sliding his tongue across the head of Steve’s cock, “I want you to move with me. Don’t hold back so much. Just, you know, don’t break anything,” he added and tilted his head down to take Steve back in his mouth. 

This time around he established a rhythm much more easily, and after a bit Steve’s hips started with minute thrusts, meeting Tony’s movements. It was like a well-oiled engine and Tony had an appreciation for such things. 

Briefly, Tony tapped on Steve’s hip when he got himself at a better angle and finally slid all the way down. It felt a little like suffocating, taking Steve so deep, but after a few tries his throat and jaw relaxed more, getting a bit more used to it, and Tony spread his fingers on Steve’s hips, guiding him back and forth from the frozen stillness he had fallen into again. 

It didn’t take long before they had a very good rhythm going – nor was it long after that when Steve started drawing back when Tony tried getting him to do the opposite, which probably meant he was getting closer. Sure enough, Steve twitched and groaned softly, and Tony caught his cum in his mouth. Just like the pre-cum, it didn’t have a distinct flavor, as if it had been purified. 

Tony drew back, grabbing a napkin from the table and cleaning his face a little. Steve was panting faintly, his cock hanging forty-five degrees lower than before, but he was still stiff. Perplexed, Tony watched it, one hand caressing Steve’s thigh, and as if by some unseen magic, the cock finally filled up again and resumed its fully erect stand against Steve’s stomach. 

It hadn’t even been two minutes. 

“Okay, I understand your confusion now,” Tony murmured and looked up at Steve’s face. It was hard to tell whether Steve was ashamed or just uncomfortable, and that was all sorts of wrong. “Have you tried seeing how many times you can come like this, back to back?” Tony asked and slowly stood up, rubbing his clothed hip against Steve’s cock. 

“Two or three times. After a battle, depending… Sometimes I’m too tired to get it up at all; sometimes it takes more to calm things down,” he confessed. 

“Gotta love those endorphins,” Tony mused and leaned up a little to kiss Steve’s chin. “How about we get in the shower and see if we can’t make lil’ Cap go to sleep.” 

Steve flushed a little. “Really? That’s what you’re calling it?” 

“It’s either that or Iron Patriot, and that name’s already in use,” Tony grinned. 

Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Also, just for the record, I’m kind of wiped after the fight so place your bets well,” Tony added. 

That got the other man’s attention and Steve regarded Tony curiously. “I’m still not sure I know what you want.” 

“Well, I already got what I _really_ wanted, so now we negotiate,” Tony told him and stepped back a little, starting to undo his undersuit. He was aware that with or without the grime of battle, he was going to look old and out of shape next to the perfection of Steve’s body. Not to mention bruised and punished by all of his years, although Extremis had smoothed over the worst marks. 

Steve watched him with open curiosity. His eyes lingered on Tony’s chest, smooth now that the arc reactor had been removed, the hideous scars fixed by the inclusion of Extremis. Tony tried not to feel self-conscious as he kicked the undersuit out of the way and stood there a bit awkwardly despite trying to look proud and unaffected by the superiority of Steve’s physique. 

The blond tilted his head, as if measuring Tony from a different angle, then finally nodded as if making a decision. “Shower?” 

“Please,” Tony agreed, and they entered the bathroom together. After blowing Steve and basking in the nakedness of the super-soldier’s body, Tony’s cock had taken interest in what was happening. He stroked it a few times before reaching for his favorite soap, and they proceeded to wash as if there had been no talk about further erotic activity. 

Steve washed fast – something that had to be a leftover from his past life – and Tony felt himself being watched once again as he finished rinsing his hair. Then he felt Steve’s lips on his and kissed him on automatic, eyes still shut and nose trying not to inhale water as he tried to finish washing. Steve’s hands joined his, strong fingers sliding across his scalp. They moved down, then along his spine and all the way down to his ass, sliding along the swell of muscle and then below, squeezing suddenly. 

“Don’t tell me you’re an ass man,” Tony grinned, blinking his eyes open. 

“I’m an artist at heart,” Steve defended himself. “I would like to draw you one day.” 

“Like one of your French girls?” Tony teased. 

“I actually did draw a few girls in France… but they weren’t wearing any diamonds,” he added, to show Tony he knew where the reference was from. For some reason, Tony thought Steve would like a movie like Titanic – well, until the whole icy water and drowning bit happened. 

“Were they naked?” Tony asked. “Your French girls.” 

“One of them would have been, had I wanted her to be,” Steve replied and kissed Tony again. 

Tony shifted and felt Steve’s cock between their bodies. His own dick tried to perk up, in order to not look old and pitiful, but frankly, what was he trying to do in attempting to measure up to the pinnacle of human perfection? It wasn’t going to happen, but the way things were going, it felt like he had some qualities Steve really liked. 

“Is this okay?” Steve murmured against his lips as his fingers slid between Tony’s ass cheeks. It seemed he knew what he was looking for, his aim dead center, and Tony moaned. 

“If you’re okay with it, then yeah – and may I counteroffer that you replace your fingers with your cock sometime tonight?” 

Steve drew back from the half-kiss and waited until Tony opened his eyes and looked at him. “You don’t need to do any of this because you think I want it. I know some men don’t like it like that.” 

“Then you probably also know some men enjoy having dicks up their ass, and you can trust me to know what I like,” Tony added, raising an eyebrow in challenge. “Are we doing this or not?” he asked – and was then hoisted up without warning. It seemed that Steve had had enough time to recuperate, because he handled Tony like he weighed nothing, taking them to the nearest shower wall. Steve leaned Tony’s back against the wall, then held him up with the one arm as the other disappeared between them. Tony had known Steve was strong, but the strength in such a small gesture as wriggling a finger up his ass, then two, then scissoring them, almost blew his mind. 

“Tell me if it hurts,” Steve told him. 

“I’ll hurt _you_ if you don’t find something to slick the way, soon, and get on with it,” Tony grunted back at him, then looked to the side and reached out to select one of the organic body washes that would do just fine. Steve didn’t smile or grin: he was completely dedicated to his new mission, bringing his hand up for Tony to squirt some of the slick soap on his hand, then took it back down between them, three fingers sliding in easy. Tony was going to be a bit sore in the morning, but it was also the hottest thing he could remember for a while. 

Steve wasn’t about to hurt him, though: he took his time with the prep and when he hoisted Tony a big higher and then slowly slid his cock inside his ass, it was all deliberately careful and done with such patience that Tony wasn’t sure where he had gotten it. Even in battle, Steve didn’t have nerves like these, and Tony had never been the most patient of people when his dick was hard. 

“Move,” Tony told Steve as the other man had held still after his entry. Tony’s ass was squeezing around the girth of the cock, his body trembling a bit from the position because no matter how easily Steve held him up, Tony couldn’t just let himself relax. 

Steve nodded and his hips moved, sawing his cock in and out. His arms held Tony’s thighs, spreading them a bit further open, and even if Tony had wanted to, he couldn’t really move along. Perhaps that was Steve’s point because he made no move to fix that, and Tony squirmed to the best of his ability before settling and just enjoying the drag and push. 

“Come on,” Tony urged after a bit and slid his arms better around Steve’s shoulders. “Fuck me like you mean it.” 

“I already mean it,” Steve corrected. “You’re covered in bruises. There’s no reason to add to them.” 

“You’re ruining my hot shower sex,” Tony complained and tried to move his right leg from Steve’s grip and hook it around the blond’s waist. 

“I can see how you’re not liking any of this,” Steve deadpanned and ground his hips, making his next inward stroke drag against Tony’s prostate. 

“You still have potential,” Tony admitted through a groan. Steve finally agreed to move Tony’s legs, too, allowing them to settle around his hips while Tony’s back still rested against the shower wall. 

“Better?” Steve asked, hands adjusting their hold, settling on Tony’s right buttock and the left side of his waist. 

“Less talking, more fucking,” Tony ordered, working his own hips. He really wouldn’t have been up for any of this, but Extremis gave him an extra boost of energy and Steve finally deigned to do as he was told, shifting Tony’s body up with every thrust; it felt like gravity dropped him an extra inch deeper every time he fell back down, and if Steve’s loud exhales were anything to go by, he was loving it. 

Tony reached one hand down to stroke himself, which may have been a mistake, considering that Steve could possibly still go another round, but Tony was aching to come and Steve leaned forward a little, resting their foreheads together as he changed the tempo and depth of his thrust again – shallower and faster – grinding against Tony. 

“Are you close?” he asked. 

Tony just nodded, bit his lips and closed his eyes, unsure whether he was trying to make it faster or last longer, but eventually he felt his balls draw up and the heat pooling in the pit of his stomach – which was a second before Steve’s hand reached from his waist to the head of his cock, caressing it with those fingers that could kill a man, and Tony came with a sharp yell, bucking his hips, Steve’s cock feeling just right inside him. 

Afterwards, Tony clung haphazardly to Steve’s body. He was utterly spent, which reminded him that he should have made sure Steve came before he did. 

“Do you want me to move, or do you want me to get –?” 

“Just, finish up if you’re close,” Tony murmured against his neck. “Bonus points if you manage to hit my prostate.” 

Steve must have been close because he didn’t slide out of Tony; he resumed his thrusts after adjusting Tony’s body a little. In a matter of seconds Tony was about to give him all the bonus points in the world, his insides clenching as Steve’s cock brushed relentlessly past his over-stimulated prostate. It was fucking fantastic, and Tony felt like he was coming again right alongside Steve, some minutes later. The super-soldier’s fingers left marks on his hips, for sure, and he thrust in hard a few times before stilling and finally sliding out, lowering Tony carefully to the floor. 

It was Tony’s turn to be weak-legged and Steve ended up holding him up as he washed them a little, then turned off the water and took them out, finding towels for them both. Steve took them back to the side of the living room while they were still half-wet, sitting Tony down on the couch. It was a good plan, though, because Tony was tired and just lay back like a dead fish. 

Steve found them bottles of water, then sat down beside Tony in strange silence. After a while Tony opened his eyes and looked at Steve, then remembered the strawberries. “They’re not going to eat themselves,” Tony noted and reached out to snatch one strawberry from the container. 

Encouraged by this, Steve dug in as well. He seemed to enjoy the whipped cream and chocolate sauce – delicacies he probably hadn’t been able to afford before the ice – and every once in a while, if Tony hadn’t reached out for a strawberry for a bit, he would feed Tony one. That, naturally, led to more kissing, and somewhere in between all that the strawberries got eaten, as well as the whipped cream Tony had had in the fridge. 

Steve got up after that, taking their damp towels back into the bathroom and then returned, looking at Tony with an odd expression. “What?” Tony asked. He was lying in the corner of the couch, one leg drawn up, too tired to be ashamed. Besides, Steve had just fucked him, so… _Ah._ Tony supposed he had that fucked look going on, and now that he cared to look, Steve was hard still – or again, because Tony hadn’t noticed that while they were eating. 

“Want me to…?” Tony asked vaguely and pointed at Steve’s cock. 

“That’s okay,” Steve mused. “It will go down on its own, or I’ll deal with it.” 

“We should go to bed,” Tony said next, assuming that they might just as well use his after all this. “Unless, you know, you want to go to yours,” he added, not wanting to get greedy. 

“Yours is right there, if I’m invited to it,” Steve smiled softly. 

“You’re invited,” Tony confirmed and shifted to a better position. “What are you thinking about?” he asked. Seriously, how was Steve just standing there, not stroking himself? He might as well, if he wasn’t doing anything else. Ignoring a beautiful hard-on wasn’t healthy. 

“Drawing you,” Steve confessed. 

“Now?” Tony frowned. 

Steve shrugged, then moved over to the room that served as Tony’s office, sometimes, and returned with a mechanical pencil and a notepad. Certainly those weren’t ideal for any kind of drawing, but Tony’s office wasn’t stacked with art supplies, either, and Steve seemed content with his findings. He sat down on the couch opposite from Tony’s, naked and cross-legged, and started drawing. Tony lay there for a bit, then started wondering if he was supposed to hold still. He also started nodding off, because he was tired, and eventually Steve put his pen and notepad down. “Let’s got to bed,” he urged. 

Tony nodded, a bit sleepy, but stole a look at the drawing. It was more of a sketch, but really good. 

“Come on,” Steve urged before Tony could better look at it, pulling him towards the bed. 

“I let you draw me,” Tony stated, suppressing a yawn. “Now you’ll let me blow you.” 

Steve raised an eyebrow, but he could hardly argue because his cock was still stiff, even though it had stopped standing at full attention. It was ridiculous, as if someone had stuck a ramrod inside it. 

Relenting, Steve sat down on the bed, and Tony knelt between his legs. It didn’t take long before Steve came this time; either he was tired, speeding it up or staring at Tony’s naked body while he drew him had helped things along. Whatever it was, Tony finished with a few more broad licks, then went to the bathroom to rinse and used some mouthwash because he couldn’t be bothered to wash his teeth as this hour. 

Steve had settled down on the far side of the bed, and Tony landed heavily in the middle, sluggishly tugging up the covers. Once they were sufficiently covered, Tony settled his head by Steve’s shoulder and the other man reached over, settling an arm over Tony’s waist. Steve was asleep in seconds, by the look of it, but despite his earlier weariness, Tony had a hard time following him. 

He couldn’t place it, but he suddenly felt uneasy, as if something were missing. Also, in the silence, it was as if he kept hearing something, but his brain couldn’t figure out what. Tony lifted his head briefly and looked at the empty stretch of bed behind him, then out towards the door, but he could hear nothing but Steve’s even breaths. 

Tony settled back down, trying to get rid of the feeling. It didn’t pass, but it eventually let him fall asleep. 

* * *

Tony entered his floor to the smell of exotic spices. He had been in the workshop for the last five hours, putting the finishing touches on his armor that was just one job in a long line of repairs after their battle against the magical kid in Harlem. It had been a couple weeks since then, and life had returned to normalcy. 

Well, some things had definitely changed – like Bruce, cooking in his kitchen like he belonged there, looking up at Tony with a warm expression. 

“That smells great,” Tony observed. “Is it going to give me a tummy ache afterwards, like last time?” he teased. 

“You should eat new things in moderation,” Bruce informed him – like he had last week, after Tony had ordered him to rub his aching stomach. 

“Speaking of moderation…” Tony said and moved over to Bruce, leaning against the kitchen counter beside him, “I have a surprise for you. Or, not a surprise, because we’ve talked about it, but… an offering, maybe?” 

“An offering,” Bruce repeated as he stirred the sauce in the pot, then looked away from the food to meet Tony’s eyes. “What kind of offering?” 

“The kind that involves something from me, and something from you,” Tony teased, rolled his back towards Bruce and pointedly pressed his ass against Bruce’s thigh. He heard the other man’s breath catch. “I’ve been wearing it all day, and I was thinking… we might finally do what you so delectably promised on our first night together. I can’t believe we haven’t already done it by now, but I assure you, I’m prepped.” 

“Tony,” Bruce cut him off, “just because you’re wearing a plug –” 

“A very sizeable, purple plug,” Tony grinned. 

“– I’m not going to fist you without being sure you’re ready for it.” 

“I’m totally ready for it,” Tony assured him. “Look, I even cleaned up, if you know what I mean. I’ve been on a diet for the last week. Plus, we’ve been fairly active – you, me, your fingers, the toy box – so it’s going to be okay. I’ve got some new, awesome lube. It’s going to be perfect.” 

“First times are rarely perfect,” Bruce noted. “In fact, I’m fairly certain first times never actually pan out –” 

“Are you trying to imply I can’t take it?” Tony challenged him. 

“I’m trying to imply that we both want it, but that if at any point you feel like you need more time, or don’t want it, it’s completely normal,” Bruce noted and turned off the stove. “The stew will take a half an hour at least. Longer would be better.” 

“I can think of something we can do while we wait for that,” Tony agreed. 

“I thought so,” Bruce smiled a bit and took off his glasses. “Show me.” 

There was a chance Bruce meant something other than the purple plug Tony had just told him about, but those chances were slim. So, Tony turned his back on the other man, dropped his pants and underwear, and leaned forward just a little to give Bruce a better view. 

“How big is it?” Bruce asked next – clinical, and also ensuring Tony had a growing doctor kink. 

“Took a few hours for me to adjust to it,” Tony confessed, knowing that this wasn’t the time to boast. Not boasting would definitely give him better results. “Do you want to take it out and see?” 

Bruce took him by the back of the neck and forced Tony to shuffle his feet over to a nearby chair, legs still caught in his pants and underwear, then made him bend over the furniture. “Spread your legs,” Bruce urged – softly, intimately. 

Tony did, as far as they would go without removing the clothes that restrained his movements; he had a feeling Bruce would have told him to remove his pants and underwear if he wanted them gone. 

One of Bruce’s hands remained at the small of Tony’s back, which was a reminder for Tony to stay in position. The other dove between his ass cheeks, toying with the end of the plug, then grasped the flare and slowly started working it out, turning it slightly from side to side to make Tony’s sphincter relax and release it. “Just breathe,” he told Tony, as if he couldn’t figure it out for himself. 

Even after hours of having the toy inside him, Tony felt the stretch as it left his body – only to be shoved gently back inside by Bruce’s fingers. Tony closed his eyes and groaned as Bruce fucked him with it, slow and agonizing, a few times letting it sink back in all the way and settle before teasing it out again. 

“You want to try this now?” Bruce asked. 

While Tony had been prepared, he hadn’t been sure if Bruce would say yes. Maybe that was why he considered his answer for a few seconds. “If you feel like it,” he finally replied, knowing that as important as his own preparedness was, Bruce’s also couldn’t be dismissed – and not just because of the Hulk. 

Bruce pushed the plug back into him and removed both his hands. “Let’s go to the bedroom. J.A.R.V.I.S., raise the temperature by a few degrees. 

_“Of course, Dr. Banner.”_

“I don’t think getting cold will be a problem,” Tony noted as he rose, slid off his pants and underwear and followed Bruce into the bedroom. The man was already looking at the new lube, then disappeared in the bathroom. Tony removed the rest of his clothes, adjusted the plug and carefully sat down on the bed. 

“Lie back,” Bruce instructed without poking his head out. 

Tony did as he was told, staring at the ceiling. Absently, he started stroking himself while waiting for Bruce to come back, then looked at the other man as Bruce emerged from the bathroom. He had washed his hands, and had a couple towels with him. One of them he placed on the bed, under Tony’s ass, which made it all suddenly very, very real. It had been a while since Tony had been nervous in bed. 

Next Bruce fetched three low stools, placing them all at the end of the bed. He sat down on the middle one and placed Tony’s feet on the other two. “You good?” he asked. 

Tony nodded and tried to relax. The position wasn’t awkward but it felt weird, obviously. He went on stroking his cock and Bruce didn’t tell him to stop, so it was good, probably. Briefly, Bruce tugged his hips a bit closer to the edge of the bed, and with Tony’s ass almost hanging off the bed, the scientist removed the plug and put it aside. 

“Remember, we’ll stop when you want to,” Bruce told him. 

“Or you,” Tony added, because it felt like he should say it out loud. “This is a group effort, right?” 

Bruce smiled at him and opened the brand new lube. “Right. This is good stuff,” he added after a bit. 

“Works well for fisting. I checked,” Tony informed him, then took a deep breath. He knew what to expect because they had talked about this in theory. Still, it felt weird when Bruce started with his fingers, two and three, then four, taking it so slowly Tony wondered whether Bruce was going to chicken out. Then came finger number five, which they had done before, briefly, and Tony tried to hold back a groan in case it alarmed Bruce. 

“Don’t do that,” the other man told him softly, eyes intense. “If you start holding back, this stops right here.” 

Tony nodded and kept stroking his cock, staring at the ceiling. He wished he could see what Bruce was doing. The motion of his hand on his cock had become like a comfort thing, but he stayed hard even though the anticipation was taking the edge off for now. 

Slowly, Tony’s body relaxed into the intrusion. Bruce added more lube and tucked his thumb in. Tony imagined he felt the other man’s knuckles against the rim of his ass. It was hot and terrifying at the same time. He wished he were drunk and could just let go of the nervousness, but Bruce never would have done this if Tony hadn’t been completely sober, and besides, Tony didn’t want to miss a second of this; he was nervous, yes, but he also wanted to do this, to accomplish something he hadn’t done before and have that genuine connection with Bruce. 

Bruce rotated his hand, slowly, carefully. Tony’s body resisted it, but not wholeheartedly. It didn’t hurt, which was a bit of a surprise, but Bruce had said it wasn’t supposed to, either. Bruce pressed a bit harder, and Tony felt his body struggle to accept the widest part of his hand. Bruce didn’t have huge hands, but they were strong and sturdy like the rest of him, made to survive and take a beating from life. 

Tony wondered if this was the right time to wax poetic, and concentrated on breathing instead. 

Slowly, agonizingly so, Bruce’s hand slipped inside and Tony’s ass clamped around everything from fingertips to wrist. Tony tried craning his head, to see, which shifted his legs and made his abdominal muscles tense, which in return made the pressure inside his colon so much worse. 

“Relax,” Bruce told him. 

“Shit,” Tony gasped, then laughed, then gasped again as Bruce shifted, just a little, but it felt like he was moving all of Tony’s world now. “We did it,” Tony said, not quite believing it. “And I can’t even see it. There must be a design flaw…” 

Bruce’s free hand caressed his thigh. “You do know J.A.R.V.I.S. is getting all this, right? In HD.” 

_“From multiple angles,”_ the AI added. 

Tony laughed again, which made his internal muscles squeeze around Bruce’s hand – who groaned, just a little. 

“I’m pretty sure I can feel you breathe,” Bruce noted. 

“I’m pretty sure you can’t, but… thanks,” Tony replied, a bit tightly. 

“You’re starting to glow,” the other man observed a second later. 

“Fuck,” Tony swore, closing his eyes, trying to focus. “Okay, no big deal. I’ll just… breathe.” He felt heat pooling under his skin, everywhere. He wasn’t sure which part of his brain thought this was a threat – if any – but if Extremis was activating, it could potentially lead to a fiery mess. 

Not to mention, Bruce was wrist-deep inside his body, and couldn’t safely back off without taking his time, which meant it was crucial that Tony not start going hot and trigger a Hulk-out. 

“Breathe,” Bruce urged him. “Come on, sweetie.” 

Tony burst out laughing. “You’re seriously not calling me that!” 

“But it’s working,” Bruce noted, smiling a little, although it was easy to see he was tenser than he should be right now. “Just ease past it and relax.” 

“Your hand is inside me; it’s a bit hard to relax around that,” Tony mused. 

“You did just fine when I pushed in, Tony.” Bruce’s other hand slid across his thigh, up to his hip and then to his cock – which Tony was clutching almost desperately. “That’s not how you do it,” Bruce teased and forced Tony to let go, then took over stroking him, thumb moving down every once in a while, caressing his balls. 

Tony breathed deeper and eased into it. Once his body wasn’t clutching onto Bruce’s hand like his life depended on it, he felt like he could feel Bruce’s breaths, too, in every minute little shift that the other man probably wasn’t even aware of. Then, once he relaxed enough, Bruce started moving his hand purposefully backwards. 

“Are you pulling out?” Tony asked, lifting his head, squinting at the other man. “I think I’ve finally got the hang of this, don’t quit on me now.” 

“Shh,” Bruce ordered, pulling his hand a bit further back, then thrust it forward again. He also angled it, which felt weird – until his knuckles moved across Tony’s prostate and he almost came on the spot from the sensation. 

Tony didn’t swear out loud, but his lips moved around the words. His hand returned to his cock, working the tip, leaving Bruce to do what he wanted with the base, his balls, and his perineum. 

“You’re getting close,” Bruce observed. 

“Hell yeah,” Tony breathed. “Just, keep…” 

“I think your core temperature just rose by five degrees,” Bruce added; he didn’t sound scared or terrified that Tony would hurt him. Rather, Bruce had his ‘ _we’re conducting an experiment_ ’ voice on, and it made Tony’s brain melt a little. “You’re glowing again.” 

“I’m sorry, I can’t stop it,” Tony babbled, shifting his hips because he couldn’t stop that either, and each small movement rubbed all his sensitive spots in the right way. “Yes, yes, yes…” he kept hissing, then felt his orgasm wash through him like a heat-wave – which it possibly was, considering that his body was still awash with occasional orange ripples when he recovered enough to open his eyes and try to look at Bruce. 

“You okay?” Tony asked, even those two simple words lisping a little. 

“Fine. If you could relax a little…” 

Tony nodded and plopped his head back down to the mattress. Eventually the tremors lessened and he could relax, which allowed Bruce to start the long journey back. It felt like a mile-long trek until Bruce gently pulled his hand free of Tony’s body and flexed his fingers a little. 

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Tony asked because he was finally coming back to himself and he knew he should have factored in the Extremis. 

“I’m fine. I could feel it, though, when you came,” Bruce told him, almost grinning now that it was over. “I’m sure it’s spectacular even with normal people, but you and Extremis…” Bruce moved up, leaning over Tony’s body, and sealed their lips together. Tony kissed him back, still sluggish but enjoying every bit. After a while Bruce shifted a little, his hand working between them, undoing his own pants. His cockhead painted a wet trail on Tony’s skin and Bruce resumed kissing him as he jerked off. Tony felt bad, for not helping him, but Bruce came fast and seemed completely satisfied by how things finished. He rolled over and they gazed at each other, occasionally caressing their bodies – Bruce’s still fully clothed one save for his open pants, Tony’s naked and sweaty one. 

Tony was content, in a way he had rarely felt in his life – yet there it was, once again, the feeling that something wasn’t right. 

That something was missing. 

* * *

Tony entered his floor after a long stretch in the workshop. His armor was almost completely repaired from their battle in Harlem two weeks ago, and he smiled almost stupidly as he came in view of the kitchen. “Seriously? You’re cooking?” he asked Steve, who was standing at the kitchen island, mixing something in a bowl, wearing an apron over faded jeans and a t-shirt. 

“I can cook,” Steve defended himself. 

“I know,” Tony reassured. “Just, you’re usually too hungry to actually make something that requires, you know, preparation,” he teased and went over to peek at the bowl. “Cookies?” he asked excitedly. 

“Yeah. Strawberry with white chocolate chips,” Steve told him. “There’s also spaghetti and tomato sauce,” he added. 

“You knew I was coming upstairs?” 

“I asked J.A.R.V.I.S. when you might be done, approximately.” 

Tony playfully slapped the blond’s ass. “I want to lick the spatula.” 

“I thought the cook gets to do that,” Steve replied. 

“But I’m the cook’s little helper!” 

Steve glanced at him, then abandoned the cookie batter, whirling around instead and grabbing Tony as he went, lifting him up and onto the countertop. “You’re not helping, doll,” he admonished softly. 

“You’re seriously not calling me that,” Tony tried to kick him – then stopped when Steve’s hands went for Tony’s belt and undid it, along with his jeans. 

“I like calling you things,” Steve said – and he did. Always in the privacy of their room, never on the field; that’s why Tony usually let it slide with a minimum of complaints. 

“You’re lucky I like you so much,” Tony muttered, craning his neck to look at Steve as the man tugged Tony’s underwear down in order to get to his cock, which was perking up at the prospect of sexy times. “Not fair,” Tony complained. “I want to suck you,” he stated, even as Steve’s lips touched his sensitive flesh. 

“I thought you wanted the spatula,” Steve deadpanned. 

Tony chuckled and arched his back as Steve sucked him in all the way – damn he was good at that – which forced him to rest his head back on the counter. “You know what? We should sixty-nine. Definitely and regularly.” 

“Sixty-nine?” Steve asked, lifting his head. 

“Yeah. You know,” Tony tried to describe it with his hands. 

Steve, being the smart cookie that he was, got it almost instantly. “Ah. Sounds fun,” he commented, then went back to sucking Tony’s cock. 

Tony’s legs twitched a little; he was getting close to the proverbial edge way too fast, but Steve probably knew that and was doing it on purpose. “It is fun,” Tony agreed, trying to distract himself by talking, to make it last, but between Steve’s lips and tongue, and, fuck, he just swallowed around the head of Tony’s cock – it was hard. “A team effort,” Tony managed to say, not really even remembering what he was talking about anymore. It had something to do with cock, but in between Steve’s mouth and the hands holding his hips down to the counter, he couldn’t remember. 

“F-fuck,” he finally stuttered as Steve sucked his orgasm out of him, along with his seed. 

Afterwards, Steve even nuzzled his crotch, which was entirely unfair because he was sexy as hell to begin with and didn’t need to up the ante with something like that. 

“Better?” Steve asked finally and drew back, cleaning up his face and returning to making cookies. 

“I didn’t realize there was something wrong,” Tony noted, still dazed, lying on the counter. 

“When you feel like it, get your ass off the counter and get cleaned up, then set the table. I’m hungry.” 

Tony turned his head, looking at the tall blond. Broad shoulders and trim waist, dressed in an unassuming apron that didn’t even say ‘ _cooks are hot_ ’; Tony was fairly certain the apron wasn’t his, which led him to imagine Steve buying it, with the intention of cooking dinner. 

All this was a perfect example of what their life had been like since that first spectacular night together, and Tony felt content on a level he hadn’t experienced in… well, maybe ever. 

Still, sometimes, he got this feeling that something wasn’t as it should be. 

That something was missing from the equation, and try as he might, he couldn’t shake the feeling. 

* * *

A full month had passed since the battle against the kid with a magical wand. The new moon was up in the sky again, on a spectacularly clear night, but Tony wasn’t enjoying it because J.A.R.V.I.S. was malfunctioning after being glitchy for days – and not only was Tony at a loss as to what was causing his AI to continuously crash, but he was getting a severe headache to boot. 

It was around midnight when he gave up and decided to join the other Avengers on their shared common floor. On his way there, the hallway suddenly appeared to melt and twist around him, leaving Tony stumbling forward and onto the floor as his balance completely failed him. 

He couldn’t stand up; he couldn’t pick himself up or move, his head caught in a tumbler, the world tilting painfully around him. How long he lay there, Tony wasn’t sure, but when everything finally stopped spinning and he thought it was finally over, images began to hit him, left and right: memories, sounds, sensations… 

“Tony!” 

From somewhere far away, in between the clashing fragments, he heard Clint calling his name. 

“Shit, he’s worse than anyone else,” the archer went on to whoever he was with. “Can you stand up?” 

Tony felt like snapping that he could barely feel his legs while his brain was having some kind of seizure – or that’s how it felt. Torrents of images kept assaulting him, trying to triumph over one another. All of them made sense – all of them were real – but there was one problem with all of it: they couldn’t have happened. Not at the same time. 

His body was dragged up from the floor by someone stronger than Clint. That left only Thor and Steve, but Tony was fairly certain he would have known if the hands were those of his lover. 

His lover… 

_Wait._

Tony wanted it all to slow down, to stop moving so fast so that he could comprehend, but whatever force was in play didn’t heed his pleas – not until it felt like the moving masses had ground his mind into dust between their moving weights, pieces finally locking into place after hacking at each other to fit in. 

None of it made sense. 

It couldn’t be _real_ , but the memories in his head… 

Tony was terrified and shot up where he had been lying on the couch, now surrounded by the other Avengers, in the living room of the common floor. 

“Tony?” Bruce and Steve asked almost in the same breath, then shared a look that was incredibly hard to describe. Tony knew where it was coming from. 

“Please tell me this is a dream and someone’s going to dunk me in cold water in order to wake me up,” Tony pleaded. 

“This is no dream, my friend,” Thor said. 

“What just happened?” Clint demanded. “It was like someone switched on a leaf-blower in my brain.” 

Tony blinked at the archer. Had everyone felt it? All of them looked relatively okay – all but Bruce and Steve, who were still quiet and tense, looking at each other from the corners of their eyes. “Alright, someone, tell me…” Tony wasn’t sure what he wanted anyone to say – or not say. “I don’t…” He tried to even out his breathing, feeling like he was getting trapped in another panic attack when he had been free of them for months. But as the events of the last month – each day since the battle in Harlem – fell into place in his mind, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. 

Side by side, in his mind, sat two sets of memories: one of a month spent with Bruce, and another with Steve. Both were equally bright and real; both of them he could feel with every fiber of his body, individually. 

“It’s confusing, to say the least,” Natasha started, a frown etched onto her face. “It’s like I’m looking at two mirrors in a fun house. Both of them show a different image…” 

“But they’re both real,” Clint agreed, then looked at Tony. “What do you remember?” 

“Remember?” Tony said carefully, licking his dry lips. 

“Yeah,” Clint nodded. “The last month. Were you with Bruce, or were you with Steve, because I seem to remember both, and I want to know which version to stick to before I go insane!” 

Tony felt utterly helpless. Not knowing what to say, he looked at the two men – his teammates, his lovers – and it was clear he was getting no answers from either of them. 

“Fuck,” Clint decided, leaning back in his seat and sliding his fingers into his hair, squeezing tight. “Please someone wake me up. It was bad enough…” 

“Shut up, Clint,” Natasha snapped at him. “It was fine,” she corrected, looking at Bruce, Steve and Tony each. “We understood it. We supported it – to the best of our ability. None of it was a problem until…” 

“Until somehow the world turned topsy-turvy and both alternatives became equally real,” Bruce summed up, looking at Steve. “I remember, clearly, when we found out about you and Tony, five days into your relationship.” 

Steve nodded haltingly. “And I remember you and Tony coming out about it a week after the battle – just as clearly as I remember every moment spent with him,” he added, looking at Tony with desperation. “How is this possible?” 

“Magic,” Thor spoke up again. He had a deeply thoughtful look on his face. “I can almost feel its absence now. Ever since we battled that youth with the wand and the Hulk broke the magical barrier, there has been a magical layer hanging above us all.” 

“The residual effects of the fight,” Tony nodded, then sat up in alarm. “Does that mean half of Manhattan has just been reset to factory settings?” 

“Nay,” Thor shook his head. “You three were in the heart of the outburst, when the wand broke in half. While the magic could be detected elsewhere, only you three were affected. After all, none of the other Avengers have suffered from dual lives, save for the one caused by your involvement.” 

“Gee, that sounds really supportive,” Tony glowered at him. 

“I meant no disrespect,” Thor reassured him. “I was happy for you – all of you – for finding companionship amongst each other. Now, however…” He looked at Bruce and Steve. 

Tony, on the other hand, tried not to look at them – mostly because he suddenly felt like he had been cheating on them the entire time they had been together. At the same time, he had had some of the best times of his life, and he most certainly hadn’t been cheating on anyone – at least not on purpose. 

“Okay, so, here’s what we’re going to do,” Clint leaned forward. “Tony, you’ve got to choose.” 

“Choose?” Tony started slightly. “Choose what?” 

“One of them,” Clint pointed at Bruce and Steve. “This is your mess.” 

“What is this, pre-school?” Tony snapped and stood up. “I…I can’t just choose between the two of them! For a month, I put all I had into a relationship… well, _two_ relationships, by the look of it, but…” He was having trouble breathing again and he started pacing. 

“You can’t just leave things hanging!” Clint called out. “It isn’t fair to anyone.” 

“And choosing is?” Steve asked. 

“Unless one of you is willing to stand down,” Natasha suggested. “I’m not saying it’s perfect, but something’s got to give.” 

“I suppose everyone thinks it should be me,” Bruce noted. “I’m unreliable and most likely to jump ship, so I should let Steve have him.” 

“There, problem solved,” Clint clapped his hands. 

“No,” Bruce cut him off with a sharp shake of his head, and Tony could tell he was getting angry. “You really think I’ll just step down?” he asked the other Avengers and stood up as well. Tony stopped pacing in favor of watching his science buddy agitate the hell out of the other Avengers. He knew it wasn’t helping the situation but damn, it felt good. “Tony’s the best thing that has happened to me in years. I’m not going to let that go just because you people think it’s inconvenient.” 

Silence followed his statement. 

Involuntarily, Tony looked at Steve, who met his eyes. 

“I guess that leaves me out,” Steve said finally, never dropping Tony’s gaze. “Bruce has found the happiness he deserves. I’ve already lost everything I had in life once, so I might as well do it again by abandoning the single most important relationship I’ve been able to forge since the ice.” His eyes narrowed before he went on: “I don’t think so.” 

While Tony knew where this was going, he was so incredibly happy that Steve wasn’t just going to bow out of the competition. 

“Seems like we’re at an impasse,” Bruce concluded. 

“Fantastic,” Clint muttered and looked at Tony accusingly. “I’m starting to wonder what’s so fucking special about him. Is he that great in bed?” Both Bruce and Steve gave the archer dark, menacing looks, and he chose not to elaborate his opinion on the situation. 

“What are you guys going to do now?” Natasha asked. “Make a schedule and pass Tony around?” 

Neither Bruce nor Steve looked happy with that idea, either. 

“You could both court him,” Thor suggested. “And he who wins Tony’s heart in the end will get to keep it.” He grinned. “It ought to be a great battle with two noble warriors such as yourselves.” 

“There will be no fighting!” Tony snapped, suddenly tired of all this. “Bruce would Hulk out and break every bone in Steve’s body – then probably tear off his head for good measure. That’s an unfair advantage – and totally beside the point, too,” he added. He looked at his fellow Avengers, who weren’t being very helpful, and then at the two men he had equal amounts of feelings for. 

“What do you suggest?” Steve asked. 

“I have no idea,” Tony said, because that was the truth. “I… need time to think.” 

“That sounds promising,” Clint muttered. 

“I think we all need some time to think,” Bruce agreed, and so everyone departed back to their own floors, Thor still claiming that a healthy contest had ever been the perfect measure of a worthy partner. 

Tony went back to his lab and resumed his attempts to revive J.A.R.V.I.S. He was getting an idea why the AI had crashed, and after almost two days of trying to bring J.A.R.V.I.S. back up, Tony succeeded. The reboot almost fried all the processors in the Tower, but the AI was finally up and running. 

_“Sir,”_ J.A.R.V.I.S. started, sounding uncertain. 

“Welcome back.” 

_“Thank you, sir. It seems major portions of my data have been corrupted during the latest system crash. I shall begin removal and diagnostics –”_

“Hold on,” Tony ordered. “Is the corrupted data from the last month?” 

_“Yes, sir.”_

“I’ve stored most of it on a separate server. Place any other corrupted fragments there and we can hopefully piece together something from them.” 

J.A.R.V.I.S. worked for a couple hours to do just that and was running much smoother afterwards. 

_“There seems to be an anomaly,”_ the AI pointed out after everything was in order. _“Two layers of data are attempting to exist at the same time.”_

“Welcome to newest edition of Tony Stark’s life,” Tony joked ruefully and described the situation to J.A.R.V.I.S. 

_“It would seem Mr. Odinson’s theory is sound. It would also explain my continuous system crash when the unknown, residual energy finally faded and the two alternatives merged into one.”_

Tony nodded along and looked at the corrupted data floating around the screen. Bits and pieces of the two lives he remembered. While his brain was able to take it all in, albeit with much difficulty, J.A.R.V.I.S.’s programming could not accept such contradictions to his logic. 

_“What are you going to do, sir?”_ the AI asked at length. 

“I have no idea,” Tony admitted, yet again. He hated not knowing – especially when he knew he was failing to make a decision mostly because he feared losing either Bruce or Steve. 

_“Keeping Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers in limbo seems like an unsavory option as well,”_ J.A.R.V.I.S. noted. 

“I’m aware of that. How do you think I feel?” 

The AI did not respond, knowing better than to try and alleviate Tony’s current mindset. 

Tony sat in his lab for a few more hours, looking over the data removed from J.A.R.V.I.S.’s operating system. It wasn’t going to offer him anything he didn’t already know and feel, but he hoped some kind of epiphany could be reached if he just kept poking at it long enough. 

_“Sir, Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers are at the door, requesting entrance,”_ J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him suddenly. 

Tony started and whirled around on his chair. Behind the see-through wall, Bruce stood with his hands in his pockets and Steve offered him a tiny little wave. Tony sighed. “Open the door,” he ordered the AI, and a second later the two men were stepping inside. 

“You’ve been locked in here for over two days,” Bruce started. 

“I’m aware,” Tony agreed and rolled his saddle-chair towards the coffee machine to see if there was any coffee left. 

“We’ve talked,” Steve added. “Neither of us is willing to step down.” 

Tony sighed again, heavily. There wasn’t even any coffee left. He turned around to look at the two men, feeling a familiar hopelessness overtake him. “I cannot choose,” he stated. “Not like this. Maybe never. I don’t _want_ to. I… care for you both. At the same time. I know it’s different for you, because you lived both versions, and so did I, but in each version I was with _someone_ , and I can’t just forget that. Or undo that,” he added. 

“We get that,” Bruce said. He looked tired, a little haggard, and Steve looked like he had spent too much time in the gym. Both of them must have tried to work the frustration from their systems and failed – and now they were looking to Tony for an answer, which he didn’t have. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, then retracted: “In fact, no, I’m not sorry. At all. I… have feelings for both of you. That hasn’t changed. I think a piece of wisdom from my old life is going to be the best medicine for this: all or nothing.” 

Steve frowned. “You mean…” 

“Both or none,” Bruce put it into words. 

“That’s…” Steve looked at Bruce again, then at Tony. “We’re like rivals,” he pointed out. 

“You have something in common,” Tony stated, standing up and walking towards them. He stopped a few feet away and pointed at himself: “Me.” For a second he hesitated, then plunged forward again: “If you can’t get behind that idea, then this is over. I refuse to let either one of you go in favor of the other, even if you would choose to do it.” 

Both Bruce and Steve were quiet, and Tony supposed a little convincing couldn’t hurt – especially now that he had finally had his epiphany: “When I was with each one of you,” he went on, taking a step closer to them, “I had this constant feeling that something was wrong. I think I know what that is, now.” Both men looked at him expectantly. “Something was missing – literally. Every time I was with Bruce, there was a place left for Steve in our bed. Each time I was with Steve, there was an empty spot on the bed where Bruce would sleep when we were together.” 

“That’s… not how it works,” Bruce argued softly. 

“Maybe it isn’t – but maybe it is,” Tony insisted. “For me, that’s the only solution. If you can’t take it – either one of you – I’ll accept that. What choice do I have?” he added ruefully. 

“We should give it a shot,” Steve said, making his choice way quicker than Tony had expected. 

“We would still be sharing him,” Bruce pointed out. 

“We would be sharing each other,” Tony laid down the law. “Big difference. I don’t want you to fake it, but I would appreciate a genuine attempt to like each other.” 

Bruce and Steve looked at each other, this time with less hostility. “We’re teammates,” Steve noted. “And friends. We both love Tony.” 

“Whoa!” Tony threw up his hands. “No one said anything about the big l-word!” 

Steve looked at him, alarmed – and maybe a little hurt – whereas Bruce simply looked amused. “He’s allergic to that word,” Bruce conspiratorially stage-whispered to Steve. “I’m pretty sure of that. You’re going to spook him with that kind of talk, like a wild animal into the night.” 

“Ha ha,” Tony mock-laughed. “Seriously, Steve. We’ve been together for a month, that doesn’t mean –” 

“I know what I feel,” Steve argued, sharply, and that was the end of that discussion, clearly. 

“Okay,” Bruce broke the silence. “So, we’re giving this a shot. Any ideas on how we’re going to do it?” 

“How about a date night?” Tony suggested, because that couldn’t go wrong. 

“With strawberries?” Steve asked, a soft smile back on his face. 

Bruce didn’t get it – Tony had to remember that – so he nodded and told Bruce: “You’ll see. And I’m pretty sure we have to clue Steve in on the whole… well, fisting thing.” 

It was adorable how Bruce flushed, just a little – and Steve didn’t look nearly as confused as he should have. 

* * *

The first few date nights went just as well as could be expected: with some tension in the air and Tony trying to play matchmaker. Every kiss and touch felt like someone was being left outside, though, and Tony wondered how he could make things easier. He even ordered Bruce and Steve to go out on their own and have some fun. They ended up going for a walk, eating hot dogs and talking about Tony’s most annoying quirks. 

It was better than nothing. 

Tony was nearing the end of his wit, though, and he was constantly afraid that their arrangement would fail. He couldn’t force two people to like each other, or have romantic feelings for each other, but he had hoped their mutual attraction for Tony would help. 

Their individual relationships suffered as well, seeing as whenever Tony was with just one of the men, it felt like cheating and doing things behind the absentee’s back. 

Slowly, though, Bruce and Steve did relax around one another. They liked sharing dirty jokes about Tony, opening up about their first month with him, and Tony decided to let it play out. 

Eventually, there came a point in their love-triangle of a relationship where some serious decisions had to be made: “We should move in together,” Bruce said. “That is how we’ll become familiar with one another and see whether this will work or not.” 

That they chose to live on Tony’s floor wasn’t such a shock, seeing as in either version of their first month together, that’s where they had been. 

The first night in the same bed was odd. Everyone came and went to the bathroom, self-conscious, but as soon as Tony lay down in the middle and the two men took their places, it was like things clicked for the first time. 

“I think I’m beginning to see what you meant,” Bruce confessed against Tony’s shoulder. 

“Everything’s going to be okay,” Tony decided, and for the first time he actually believed it. 

Of course, the first time he concretely felt like he had made the right choice was when Bruce and Steve decided to kiss. They had been living together for a almost a month, having been in their current arrangement for three, and Tony was so sex-starved that he wasn’t sure whether he would go insane or blind when Steve pulled Bruce into a kiss and the single peck on the lips transformed into something that would have deserved its own page in _Kama Sutra_. 

It was one of the single hottest things Tony had ever seen – not because it was sexually charged, but because it featured two of his favorite people in the world. 

Tony whined from where he stood in the doorway of the bedroom, and Steve finally drew back, fixing Tony with a strange look. 

Bruce turned his head as well, looking over his shoulder at Tony, and a small smile played on his lips. “He looks a little lost, don’t you think?” he mused. 

“I’m sure he’ll find his way,” Steve decided and lured Bruce back into a kiss. It was clear they liked it, far more than they liked kissing Tony, which almost made him jealous. 

Well, when Tony got jealous, he made himself the center of the attention – or, in this case, he wanted to make sure both his lovers knew exactly how he felt about this. Slowly, he moved over to them, not wanting to break their moment. Both their eyes were closed, Steve’s hands on Bruce’s face, Bruce’s resting on Steve’s waist and shoulder. They looked content doing just that, and Tony ached to do something – anything – to make it better for them. 

He cast his eyes down for a bit and noted that yes, Steve was hard. It didn’t take much to get him going, usually, but Steve had avoided getting aroused when Bruce was around, which had led to some awkward and hasty exists. Now, he wasn’t running away, and neither was Bruce, which gave Tony the perfect idea: he rushed over to a box on the night stand, fishing a condom out of it, then returned to the two and with the condom between his lips, he worked both their pants open with deft fingers. 

The kiss was cut off almost immediately. 

“Proceed,” Tony mumbled the order. “Please,” he added and knelt down at their feet. 

Bruce met his eyes and Tony pointedly showed him the condom – extra durability for extra protection – and opened the packet, sliding the condom carefully on Bruce’s cock. His hand smoothed it into place, then the other cleverly wrapped around Steve’s, standing proudly at attention, as always. 

“Kiss,” Tony urged. 

Steve dared to chuckle. “I think he likes it.” 

“I think he likes that it’s us.” 

“Shut up and _kiss_ ,” Tony insisted. 

Bruce pursed his lips, chuckled, then reached for Steve’s face and tugged it down to his own, resuming the dance of lips and tongues. Not too much tongue, Tony noticed. It was slower, too, than how either of them kissed him. Maybe they were putting on a show for him – or maybe they just liked taking their time. Their hands were wandering a little, too, over their upper bodies, but it seemed they steered clear of anything lower than their waists. That meant Tony was supposed to handle that department, which was fine with him. 

He watched for a bit longer, jerking both men, then told himself not to be greedy and abandoned his perfect view point in order to lean in drag his tongue along Steve’s cock, then Bruce’s, and finally pulled both of them together so that he didn’t have to move around so much. He would have loved to handle Bruce without the condom, but they all knew the danger of the blood pumping through Bruce’s veins and no one wanted to take that kind of unnecessary risk. 

That meant Tony just paid extra attention to the condom-covered flesh, noting that Steve didn’t seem to mind. He laved them both – literally – with enough attention to not leave anyone wanting. He even pondered trying to suck them both at the same time, but that was a feat for another time – especially when Bruce and Steve suddenly drew apart, leaving Tony hesitating as they both stepped back – a few seconds before Tony was lifted to stand between them. 

“I think we’ve established this is going to work out just fine,” Steve noted. 

“Agreed,” Bruce said, breathing heavily. Both their lips were red and plump from kissing. Bruce’s hair was even more of a mess than usual, whereas Steve’s looked like fingers had been combing through it over and over. “Get the lube,” Bruce ordered, and Tony’s eyes glazed a little. While Steve moved away to the bedroom, Bruce looked Tony in the eye and smiled. “You’ve given us so much time to get used to the situation. It’s time we thank you for your patience.” 

“My patience?” Tony swallowed – then moaned as Bruce kissed him. 

Steve returned, fingers already wet. He tossed the lube down, then yanked at Tony’s pants, forcing them down to his knees, and his fingers slid between his cheeks and into his ass with minimal warning. Tony tried to change his stance, to make it easier, but Bruce was holding onto his hair and keeping him right where he was. 

“Did you think of trying to fit both our cocks in your mouth?” Bruce asked, teasingly. 

Tony nodded vigorously; Steve’s fingers were pressing hard against his prostate, robbing any actual words from him. 

“We’ll get there,” Bruce promised. 

Tony knew of another orifice that might fit two cocks at once, if they tried, but he and Bruce hadn’t gotten there yet – mostly because Bruce still feared losing control. Who knew; with Steve present, that might change. 

“Okay,” Steve said from his back, “I think we’re good to go.” 

Bruce smiled and nodded, taking a long stride back, then his hands urged Tony forward and down by his head and shoulder. Tony felt his body flush a little, especially when Steve aligned himself behind him and slowly thrust inside his ass. After he was bent forward a bit further, Bruce’s cock ended up right beneath Tony’s face, and he got the hint, reaching his hands out to hang onto Bruce’s waist and thigh while he put his mouth on his condom-covered dick. Bruce sighed and then grunted – just as Tony did – when Steve’s first real thrust sent him more forcefully down on Bruce’s cock. 

If they had planned that, it was perfect. 

If they hadn’t? Tony was probably in heaven. 

Bruce’s cock barely left his mouth as Steve thrust into him from behind, strong hands steadying his hips, keeping him upright without a fear of falling. The tempo was hard but not fast, and it seemed to serve Steve and Bruce perfectly, because they came almost at the same time, Bruce finishing as Steve caught his breath after shooting his load up Tony’s ass. 

“Okay,” Bruce panted finally and drew Tony’s face up and away from his spent flesh, then helped Tony stand up straight. Steve was right behind him, steadying him and kissing his skin above the neck of his shirt, and Bruce’s hand found his hard cock and delivered the two dozen strokes it took for Tony to come with a strangled moan. 

“I’m thinking ice cream and a movie,” Steve said while Tony was still catching his breath. 

“After a shower,” Bruce agreed. 

“I think I love you two,” Tony managed to offer. 

“We know,” they both replied at once and took turns kissing him before guiding him into the shower. Later, when they settled on the bed together, with bowls of ice cream and cookie crumbs on top, Tony marveled how they had gotten all the way here by some magical accident, and it still felt like he had been waiting for this his entire life. 

Well, it only proved that things had a way of working themselves out. 

 

 

****

#### The End


End file.
